Armed forces training ground north of Prince Albert sees first use after 15 years

On Saturday, 56 members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) were hard at work training, trudging through snow just north of Prince Albert.

Maj. Ramsay Bellisle said the wooded area is ideal for basic manoeuvre training.

“To be able to hone their skills so that we can augment the regular force or deploy, or have the soldiers have the experience to deploy to Latvia.”

For the last two weekends, the CAF has been conducting winter survival training for members of all ranks at the Prince Albert Range Training Area, although the property is no longer used as a range.

In addition to the North Saskatchewan Regiment, members of the 38 Combat Engineer Regiment and 38 Service Battalion participated in a snowmobile course, chainsaw usage and winter operations training.

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Capt. Ryan Cresswell said the training prepares members to live outside in winter conditions. He explained that it teaches them “how to set up our 10-man Arctic tents and how to snowshoe, pull the toboggan” and to build improvised shelters.

The training area closed in 2011 due to lack of maintenance, but the military has been working since 2019 to bring it back up to standard.

“It’s 10 minutes from the Prince Albert Armoury,” said Bellisle. “B company, we have a platoon of soldiers in Prince Albert with the North Saskatchewan Regiment. Ten minutes, we jump in the vehicles and we’re out here.”

Bellisle said the recently reopened training space still has an issue with trespassing.

“With the amount of training that we’re going to be going on, or plans we have for different fortifications to practice basic manoeuvres on, it’s unsafe for the general public to be trespassing into the area.”

The area will be used for training year-round.